April 29, 2011

Sarasota Jobs in Danger of Education Funding Cuts

Sarasota County Schools officials are considering cutting $13.6 million from the budget, which could result in the loss of many jobs. The amount of state and federal education funding cuts will ultimately decide how much money the district must cut from its own budget.

According to an article by Sarasota Patch, the school district is currently facing a $41.2 million loss in funding from local, state, and federal government. That's in addition to the $104 million the district has cut from its budget during the last four years.

"The House and Senate have released their preliminary budgets," Al Weidner, CFO for Sarasota County Schools, said at a recent meeting. "The House has a $20.5 million decrease and the Senate has an $18.5 million decrease for next year."

As it stands, the district's proposed budget would cut $6.8 million by laying off a number of employees. In addition, the budget would cut another $6.8 million in salaries and benefits, which must be approved through a collective bargaining agreement with the Sarasota Classified Teachers Association.

That could be bad news for the local education sector, which so far has been faring well on the heels of the nation's economic downturn, adding jobs on both a monthly and yearly basis as of late.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota area's education and health services area employed 45,000 workers during March, which is up from 44,800 workers during February and a 2.3 percent increase from last year.